What does the rest of March hold in store for Arsenal?

The simple answer is, not a great deal considering the stage of the season. Having successfully dealt with our away game to the spuds and been a touch unlucky not to win, we seem to be really finding our stride.

Associated Press

Time to build some momentum for the final push. Oh look, there’s a chuffin international break in the last two weeks of March. Dennis save us from this madness.

Our fixtures in March continue this Thursday with the first leg of our Round of 16 Europa League tie in France, kick off 17.55pm. Rennes will have had just over a week’s rest before the tie thanks to some club-friendly scheduling by the Ligue Un authorities. Hopefully it will have had a contrary effect and left them slightly short of match sharpness, unlike our brave lads.

Lucas Torreira will be itching to play in both the away and home ties since his red against the spuds will see him sidelined in the League well into April.

Roazhon Park

Next Sunday we face Solskjaer’s mob at home in the last game of the weekend, kick off 16.30pm. The match will almost assume the status of 6 pointer. It’s essential we don’t lose, but hopefully home advantage will see us grab all six points. No silly goals conceded on the counter this season, lads, please.

Thursday week we welcome Stade Rennais FC back to The Home of Football. I’d imagine the tie will still be finely balanced with again (hopefully), home advantage allowing us to overcome them and progress to the quarters.

The following weekend to the Rennes home fixture, we were down to face Wolves at Molyneux but their participation in the FA Cup has led to this game being postponed and it is yet to be re-scheduled.

Therefore, because of the international break (zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz) and clashing cup comps, we only have the 3 games to play in the whole of the rest of March. So much for building momentum!

In the next 11 days we’ll know if our Europa journey will be continuing and also the task left in the final 8 Prem games to reach a CL spot.

Then in the following 17 days we’ll have an Arsenal-less break. Baffling.

chas

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This entry was posted on Monday, March 4th, 2019 at 6:26 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Opta identify Aubang as having missed the most “big chances” so far this season at 19. Second on list is Salah at 13. ( ” big chances” are defined as either one on one chances or close in that the player should reasonably be expected to score). If only…..But what does it say about his ability to get into goal scoring positions.
Kos and Sokratis playing together looks the business. Keep them fit for the rest of the season, please Dick. And Holding and Mav in the background as a youthful replacement pair. Is the future bright?
Topics for discussion.

What I loved about KosSok against Spuds was how as one picture above demonstrates they mainly let Kane just back in to thin air. On every single high ball Kane looked for defender turned a shoulder into them when ball was in flight but both did well to jump with no arms out wide so rarely when Kane took his inevitable trip to the turf was it a question of a pull or a push.

As others have said the constant Spud diving is not picked on by the media because it’s carried out as much by their English players as foreigners (more when Alli, Rose and Kane all feature).

There is only one player I’d take off them and that is Erikksen. He is good in open play but his set piece delivery is exceptional and since Santo we have had no one that can deliver a similar ball consistently.

GiE…Tottenham has very good players…I d take Trippier, Verthongen, Allie, Eriksen, Son, Kane and maybe even Lloris and Lamela.

In any case…March will be a season marker for us:
– Can we beat Rennes in the EL? Yes, we can as Obama said BUT they are a good team and should not be underestimated. They have pace, skills and strength so I am hoping Emery takes them seriously and finishes them off in Rennes in the first game so we can play a relax game back home.

– This week-end – can we mount a serious challenge for Top 4? This starts with a victory by hook or by crook against those Man Utd bastards. I love some of their players but for me, I became an Arsenal fan in te 90s and the rivalry was with Man Utd and they re hence the team that I despise the most despite recognizing their quality…Can you believe they are ahead of us? We can’t let that happen…So I hope we put a marker in the EPL with a strong showing against Utd and a thumping victory…I think Emery will put Torreira on Pogba and will play 5 at the back against Utd with:

-> Mustafi and Kola to block the wings
-> Sok, Kos and Monreal to keep a strong back line to fend off Lukaku and/or Rashford
-> LT to man-mark Pogba and Xhaka to take care of Herrera or Perreira
-> Ramsey and Mikhy to play in between the lines
-> Laca to be a threat and a nuisance to their defense

We are going to need our best players to perform when called upon. This is a chance for players to take the team forward…

After the Man Utd game, we play some tricky games (Wolves, Watford, Everton, Leicester, Crystal Palace…) but we should be able to get positive results from all of the games so I do not expect any loss…now will we be able to turn up to get wins from the remaining games? Get 20 points or more and Top 4 is not far if we beat Utd this week-end…and then we can look at preparing next season with whole different outlook – if you qualify for CL or EL, it makes a budgetary and a status difference…which would mean a different type of transfer window…

Who’s on First? by Abbott and Costello is one of the best comedy sketch’s ever. If I had the ability I would post the You Tube version – but sadly I cannot.

One of the most famous baseball comedy acts to ever take place was the humorous exchange between Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. The words alone cannot do it justice, but it is still quite funny to read. The skit was originally done on the radio live (each & every time) until the legendary duo later included it on The Naughty Nineties compilation.

RA
Big cricket fan – have collected most books written by Brian Johnson, John Arlott.
Mourn the demise of Test Match Special on radio. Many many recordings of all the best stories/ bloopers available on YouTube. Aggers and Bumble especially recommended to those who have heard before. Call up Bumble’s description of Jeff Thompson, of Australia, breaking his pink plastic box with a delivery to the unmentionables area. Classic!

Last 2 weeks alone; Kane should have been banned for headbut, Poch should have been banned for confronting Dean. Rose and Sanchez should have been Red carded, a penalty retaken due to Vertonghen encroachment and Spurs fans are moaning the press and FA are against them. Fuck off.

Have sought expert opinion on the Kane penalty. Consensus is that while his offside position occurs first, the offside offence comes after Mustafi foul. In eyes of officials (although not MOTD) Kane not yet playing or attempting to play ball when fouled. Correct decision pic.twitter.com/yajyKjmNIJ